Sleeping Demon
by Feather of Dreams
Summary: A princess cursed by a dark fairy... A prince... and how does a demon tie in with all this? Sleeping Beauty. R and R please! Rated just to be safe.
1. Prologue

**Chapter 1**

The girl skipped off, singing gaily as her father watched her from behind a barred window. He sighed as memories flooded his mind…

_"How DARE you!" the dark fairy screeched. "GIVE ME THE CHILD!"_

_The queen shook her head defiantly, stumbling backwards, the child grasped tight in her arms. Fear passed across her face, but still she held fast._

_The fairy shrieked in anger. An unseen force rippled from her hand to the new mother, and she crumpled to the floor. The baby fell from her arms and started to cry._

_He stepped in front of the two of them as nursemaids rushed to the fallen woman. "Peace," he said. "You have hurt my wife. Now, you have no right to take my child." _

_The fairy's face twisted in a sneer. "Very well," she said. "But you shall pay for this, human. The next time I see you or the child… You will feel better off dead." With that, she disappeared in a flash of blinding light._

The girl's mother had died. Now, only Ruen was left, a merry, golden haired maiden of sixteen. This was the first time she had left the castle for sixteen years. In a desperate attempt to protect her, he had kept her hidden… until now.

_Let her go,_ a hidden voice compelled. _No harm could come to her, just this once…_

She had looked at him with those beautiful blue eyes, pleading, begging, melting his heart…  
So he had agreed.

And now… was he pleased with it? The joy of seeing her smile was not enough to cover up the sense of foreboding that had washed over him when he had nodded his agreement. But then… when he saw her running off into the wilderness all alone for the first time, an irrepressible wave of sadness had washed over him. As if… as if something bad was going to happen, but he knew he couldn't stop it. At the same time, he might had confused it with the sadness of his child growing up…  
He dismissed these thoughts from his mind quickly. _Superstition, just superstition…_ he reminded himself. Then he went back to the study to do the accounts.

**Okay, guys, I've edited this chapter according to your suggestions... and you know what that means! REVIEW! I hope to put the next chapter up by tomorrow.**


	2. Chapter 1

**Chapter 2**

Ruen smiled happily to herself as she skipped along the path leading away from the palace. She was **finally** being allowed by her strict father to leave the palace.

Her long, golden curls swayed in the breeze as she danced along the path, without a care in the world. She came to a fenced-in meadow with cows lumbering around. Her sparkling blue eyes widened at the sight of them. She had never seen a cow before in her life. Just then, a frisky lamb trotted up behind her and butted her legs. She jumped in surprise.

A laughing shepherd came up to her and gathered the lamb in his arms. "Ain't you ever seen one 'o these before, miss?" he asked cheerfully. "Judging from yer clothes, ye'll be one of them fancy palace folk. Here, how would ye like ta hold her?" He held the squirming lamb out to Ruen.

She hesitantly took it from him. The lamb looked pleased to see her and licked her face. She giggled and smiled at the kindly shepherd.

As she left, the shepherd called after her, "You be sure to come back one 'o these days, miss, and I'll show you me whole flock. Good day!"

Inside, Ruen seethed with anger at her father. How **could** he have kept her captive inside the boundaries of the castle for so long? When there were such wonderful sights to see outside? She promised herself to have a word with him when she got back.

"Stop."

The single word, spoken with such dark power, had such an effect on Ruen that she froze completely. Quaking, she looked up at the – creature—that had spoken.

There was only one word to describe it. Terrifying. The dark fairy – for that was what it was – towered over Ruen. She was almost ten feet tall. She wore a robe of black silk that shimmered with magic. Her eyes were a flashing purple, her mouth a straight, angry line etched into her hard face. Skin wings stretched out behind her back, only adding to her fearsome appearance.

"Your father let you out?" she whispered, a thunderous sound that left ringing in Ruen's ears.

Ruen nodded, too terrified to speak.

"As I thought. Your father always was a fool, putting so much faith in his intuition… it only made you an easier target for me. Now go. You should not have left the palace." She took off into the air, wings beating against the sky, the force of the wind nearly knocking Ruen over.

Ruen stood still, not moving a muscle, for a few minutes after the fairy left. She felt as if she were frozen in place by some unseen force. Something coursed through her veins, giving her fear and strength at the same time. She shivered, turned, and fled to the palace.


End file.
